Paul intriguing to Iowa's youths

Friday

Dec 30, 2011 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2011 at 10:35 AM

DES MOINES, Iowa - Dave Pettinger watched Ron Paul, indisputably an old man, embrace one supporter after another for photo-ops following a speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds at the end of a long campaign day.

Joe Hallett, The Columbus Dispatch

DES MOINES, Iowa — Dave Pettinger watched Ron Paul, indisputably an old man, embrace one supporter after another for photo-ops following a speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds at the end of a long campaign day.

Pettinger, 44, who drove nearly three hours on Wednesday from Dakota City, where he teaches high school, marveled at Paul’s stamina and said that even though he is old enough to be their grandfather, the Texas congressman is all the rage with his students.

“I think it’s because everybody is just getting tired of the same old same old,” Pettinger said. “It doesn’t matter who gets in office, it’s the same baloney all over again. I think young people are feeling that. They’re disgusted with the way things have become, and they want things changed as they get ready to enter the adult world.”

That’s not to say every hormonal-driven teenager has his or her mind on politics these days, but as Republicans prepare to caucus on Tuesday, there is no ignoring the youthful support propelling 76-year-old Paul to a likely first- or second-place finish here.

The ascendancy of Paul as the leading threat to front-runner Mitt Romney is giving heartburn to establishment Republicans, who believe he has no chance of ultimately becoming the party’s nominee and fear the clout of the Iowa caucuses will be diminished if he wins on Tuesday.

“Ron Paul could be a big surprise,” said David Yepsen, a longtime political writer for The Des Moines Register now teaching political science at Southern Illinois University.

“He clearly is the best organized. He has a lot of young people. It’s like the Obama campaign four years ago — they’re fired up. One of the things that’s going to come out of this is Ron Paul and how he feels about things. He gives voice to a lot of feelings a lot of Republicans have. Paul can’t get nominated, but Republicans are going to have to deal with his faction ... because it’s a substantial one.”

That much has been evident on the Hawkeye hustings. Paul drew more than 500 to the Wednesday night rally at the fairgrounds, and yesterday about 120 crowded a Hotel Pattee meeting room for a town-hall meeting in Perry.

An unabashed libertarian, Paul has benefited from the splintering of Iowa’s dominant GOP religious right, which has flitted from one candidate to another. He has a loyal base, although there are no guarantees on caucus night.

“Paul’s support is from young people, and they may or may not show up, even if they’re committed to him,” said James M. McCormick, an Iowa State University political scientist. “It’s a real commitment of time and effort to go to the caucus.”

There is almost a cultist aura about Paul’s events, a true belief among his staunchest supporters that he is the only authentic candidate in a field of establishment phonies, the sole candidate who does not compromise his principles.

“He is the only candidate I’ve ever had in my life who has most closely reflected my opinions and beliefs — it’s absolutely uncanny,” said Linda Larson, 51, a human-resource specialist from Granger.

Asked to identify her beliefs that Paul espouses, Granger said, “Military strength with non-interventionism, following the constitution in governing our country, respect for states’ rights, and restoring fiscal sanity and stability.”

Paul supporters seem unconcerned that many of his views do not comport with GOP orthodoxy, including his call to end aid to Israel, opposition to the war in Afghanistan and meddling in the affairs of other nations, abolishing the income tax and returning to the gold standard, eliminating the United Nations, legalizing heroin, and not interfering in marriage, including between same-sex couples.

Some, too, look past a series of racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay newsletters Paul published beginning in the late 1970s, saying now that he was not responsible for their content and disavowing the views they contained.

Paul supporters identify with his incessant pleas for a less-intrusive and smaller federal government and his taking-to-account the Federal Reserve and big banks.

“That man has a consistent voting record in Congress,” said Jennifer Chaplin, 50, of Des Moines, a utility-company employee who likes Paul’s strict anti-abortion stance. “He backs up what he says with his votes, and that’s important.”

After the Perry town-hall meeting, Jordan Jones, 26, a Des Moines high-school tutor, said his “ 9/11 generation” has come of age during bad economic times and two wars, and is frustrated with “an American system resistant to change.”

Paul is winning their support, Jones said, because “he is offering dramatic solutions to problems that are dramatic. We grew up seeing that war was a bad idea, so I think his message of not getting involved in other countries’ affairs is really resonating with young people.”

Bill Jacobs, 57, a Jewish Democrat attending the fairgrounds rally with his 18-year-old daughter, Rachel, said he does not support Paul, but he understands why so many do.

“He’s talking about grass-roots concerns, like we’re spending too much money overseas and not enough on our own society. People worry about an erosion of their personal liberties and I think he gives them a voice. He takes strong, unpopular positions, and he doesn’t back down from them. In Iowa, that’s perceived as dead-on honesty, and that creates a sense of trust.”

But Jacobs said Paul’s brand of isolationism “is actually impossible in the modern world,” and Rachel, who will be a first-time voter next year, agreed: “I don’t think we can hide from the world.”

jhallett@dispatch.com

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.